Thousands of years in the future the northern hemisphere is buried under the glaciers of a new ice age, in this 1999 novel from the late Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. Bundled away from their family, young Mara and even younger Dann come of age in a world of warring tribes and giant insects, seeking remnants of wisdom from the past and their own destiny.

"Part fairy tale, part tract for our time, this is an ambitious, demanding, remarkable book. With Mara and Dann, Lessing has created a mythical girl and boy who are also touching and credible. Into Mara, the girl child who finds herself looking after her little brother while scarcely able to look after herself, Lessing pours all her insight into how female nature is shaped. A wise, rich, melancholy book."—Sunday Telegraph